POLSON — As the 2009 Montana Legislature winds down in Helena, Polson School Board Trustees and administrators continue to play the waiting game as the budget and stimulus fund allocations are debated.

During the monthly board meeting, talk of budget issues was in the middle of a 25-item agenda. The Board received school updates, heard a Polson Historical Society on the 2010 Commemorative Year celebration, as well as heard several committee reports.

When the budget and funding updates item was reached, acting superintendent Bill Appleton said there weren’t many new solid updates to report.

Legislative watchdog, Linderman principal Steve York, reported that the budget bill, House Bill 2, is being negotiated in the Senate. The governor has proposed a 3 percent cut to all budgets. But in the Senate this week there was a proposal to trim that to just 1 percent, but that plan would use one-time stimulus funds to make up the 2 percent difference.

If this version passed, it would create larger shortfall when the  next legislature meets in 2011, York said.

Even the millions of dollars of stimulus money, included in House Bill 645, are being chopped to meet other shortfalls.

“Bottom line is, it’s just concerning,” York said.

Title 1 funds, which are laid out in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 as funds to guarantee all children get a high-quality education, are “still there,” York said, but “I’m not sure if it’s sustainable.”

“I’m a lot less optimistic than I was at this time last month. . . We’re basically balancing the budget on the stimulus money,” York said.

The final bill will drastically affect many decisions on the board’s agenda in the coming months. The legislature is set to adjourn by April 25. The next regular board meeting will be held on May 11.

Because of tight budgets, the board had discussed at the March meeting exploring the option of offering retirement incentive packages.

Board chairman Mark Russell said on Monday night that during a discussion with incoming superintendent David Whitesell, that it was Whitesell’s suggestion that serious consideration of this option be held until next year.

In Whitesell’s opinion, Russell, it was too late to forth a quality package this year.

“(Whitesell) thinks we could do something really positive next year,” Russell said.

Discussion of the percentage of funds the board would like to keep in the reserve account was also left to be decided until after budgets are set.

High school principal Rick Rafter reporter that no staff reduction will take place. Falling enrollment has reduced funding, but Rafter said after one retirement and one staffer leaving the district no reduction will be necessary.

“At this point and time I’m not suggesting a reduction of staff, but a movement,” Rafter said.

Rafter’s plan gives the flexibility to see where enrollment is next year and opens up some money to be used for at-risk students. The details of the plan will be presented to the board during May’s meeting, he said.

Four trustee positions are opening this year. In a press release sent last week, the school district reported that it will not be holding an election this year for the High School District Trustee position, which includes the Valley View and Dayton areas. No candidate filed for that position by the deadline of March 26, and no write-in candidate filed before April 9, the release said. This means the school district can “declare an election by acclamation.”

District clerk Pam Owen said that the position will be advertised after the regular election on May 5. Interested persons can submit a letter of interest, leaving the board to decided between candidates if necessary, Owen said. This person would serve until the next regular election in May of 2010. The district must appoint someone within 60 days of the election, Owen said.

Five candidates will be running for the remaining three elementary positions. Current board members Caryl Cox, Brian Havlovick and Theresa Taylor, along with Bill Harrington and Caesar Hernandez are the candidates. The election will be held in Linderman Gym.

The Polson Education Association will host a School Board Candidates Forum from 7-8:30 p.m. tonight at the Polson High School Library. The forum will be moderated Polson Middle School teacher Charles Bertsch.

There will not be any levies on this year’s ballot.

School board ready to react to stimulus

RONAN — With House Bill 645 possibly nearing its passage of the Legislature, Ronan Schools Superintendent Andy Holmlund said at Monday’s school board meeting that officials should have a clearer picture on how much the district will get from the state by week’s end.

HB 645, the bill with the huge task of dividing up federal stimulus funds in Montana, will have an inevitable impact on the district’s 2009-10 budget, but Holmlund warned that some of the stimulus package funds will be one-time monies, meaning that base budgets will decrease over two years.

“The stimulus [monies] will put the burden back on you to have a balanced budget in August, knowing that some of the monies come with the strings attached,” Holmlund advised the board. “At this point we’re prepared to react to whatever the Legislature’s final decision is.”

The board tabled an approval request for the 8th Grade Honor Pass over-night out-of-state trip to Silverwood Theme Park pending further discussion of the trip’s specifics and academic opportunity.

The board also approved the hiring of two personnel employees for the remainder of the school year and seven for 2009-10. The hired personnel include: RMS special ed para-professional Tony Peretto; Intervention Specialist Brandy Shaw; Heady Wrestling Coach Dustyn Azure; Head Speech/Drama Coach Melissa Knabe; Head Girls Basketball Coach Jami Schall; Head Cheerleading Coach Theresa Wayman; Head Boys Basketball Coach Steve Woll; Ronan High School Secretary Joell Conklin; and K. William Harvey Elementary Secretary Jamie Fuchs.

In other Ronan school news, 2009 graduation has been set for Sunday, May 31 in the Ronan Events Center.

In school board election news, District 30-1 incumbent trustee Jason Adams has decided not to run for re-election and Robert Jason Starkel is running for his thee-year seat. For the district 30-2 position Incumbent trustee Roger Romero, Jim Blow, Bob Cornwell, Stacy Sherwin and John Shane Shima are running for the three-year District 30-2 position.

The deadline for write-in candidates to file a declaration of intent for a trustee position on the board is 5 p.m. on April 9. School board elections will be held from noon to 8 p.m. on May 5 at the Ronan Community Center.

— Reporter Ty Hampton